December 2014

BASF Bulletin Board: Our Members and Leaders Circle Firms Making Headlines

Queen’s Bench Bar Association Names 2015 Board of Directors The following BASF members were recently announced as 2015 Queen’s Bench Bar Association board of directors: President Jaime Touchstone, Futterman Dupree Dodd Croley Maier; 1st Vice President Pauline Farmer-Koppenol, Bio-Rad Laboratories;…

Bowling Tournament Raises More Than $10,000 For Mock Trial Program

More than 48 bowlers came out to Lucky Strike on November 17 to participate in our first Annual Diversity Bowl, benefiting the Mock Trial program of the Justice & Diversity Center. Bowlers raised more than $10,000. We are thankful for…

Grow Your Clientele: Join the San Francisco-Marin Lawyer Referral and Information Service

With the turn of a new year, reflections about one’s law practice circulate in the mind. Is my practice where I’d like it to be? Is there more I could be doing? Growing your clientele while giving back to the…

Estate Planning: Lawyer Regrets Divorcing Without Inheritance Agreement for Kids

Divorce is difficult, and even successful lawyers sometimes jeopardize their children’s inheritance by failing to make adequate agreements about it as a part of the divorce settlement. Attorney Debra Karlstein is a recent example. She divorced Hank Goldsmith, a big-name…

Justice & Diversity Center Announces 2015 Board of Directors

The Justice & Diversity Center (JDC) of The Bar Association of San Francisco (BASF) recently confirmed its Board of Directors for 2015. Timothy Moppin, Kaufman Dolowich & Voluck, will serve as president; Michael Tubach, O’Melveny & Myers, will serve as…

Legal Ethics Corner: Ethical Issues in Accepting Credit Card Payments

As anyone who has paid for vegetables at the farmers’ market on a merchant’s smartphone knows, the use of credit cards as a form of payment has become a universal convenience. Credit cards can now be used for the purchase…

Four Steps to Maximizing the Effectiveness of Your Mediation

Mediation is an important component of the civil justice system. Mediation allows a neutral third party who is in a unique position of seeing both sides to explore the strengths and weaknesses of the parties’ arguments, and perhaps suggest creative…

Thank you to AT&T for 2014 Fellowship

Many thanks to AT&T for sponsoring a fellowship with the Justice & Diversity Center. Our 2014 AT&T Fellow was Felipe Garcia, a Golden Gate University Law student, pictured here with AT&T’s David Miller. Thanks to AT&T’s generosity, Garcia spent his…

Family Law Corner: $325K in Unpaid Spousal Support to Pay Leaves “Hustle & Flow” Star Strapped for Legal Options

Terrence Howard (“Iron Man” and “Hustle & Flow”) may be realizing that multiple marriages have a price to pay–spousal support. Howard has moved on to wife #3, but he continues to pay child support and spousal support to his first…

JDC Volunteer Uses Specialized Expertise to Navigate System on Behalf of Clients

The Justice & Diversity Center (JDC) is pleased to recognize Morgan, Lewis & Bockius associate Jennifer Tolkoff as our volunteer of the month for her work with JDC’s Low Income Taxpayer Clinic (LITC). Tolkoff has been a volunteer with JDC…

Barristers Club Annual Holiday Party Ends Successful Year

The Barristers Club and Board of Directors gathered for their annual Holiday Party on Friday, December 5. Law students, board members, and attorneys alike mingled and celebrated another successful year. To learn more about the activities of the Barristers Club,…

Circling Back: Mentors and Mentees Meet in 2014

As a follow-up to the Mind the Gap program started in 2013 by then President Chris Kearney, BASF established a pilot program of Mentoring Circles to continue to provide professional advice and guidance to new practitioners as they build their…

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